Speech #1000128126

Mr. President. I rise to remind the Senate of the thousands of Jews struggling to emigrate from the Soviet Union. In 1979. over 51.000 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union. By contrast. fewer than 45.000 Jews have been allowed to emigrate during the 1980s. and total annual emigration fell below 1.200 for 1984. 1985. and 1986. Largely due to the more progressive policies of Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev. the current outlook is more positive. and more than 6.000 people have received permission to emigrate during 1987. Although this figure is promising. it is not good enough. There are still hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews yearning to be free of the tyranny and religious oppression of the Soviet regime. But this is much more than a game of numbers. It is the story of countless Soviet citizens who are being denied their internationally recognized right to free emigration. It is the story of Soviet Jews who ae being denied the right to practice religion freely. without fear of persecution. Above all. it is the story of the Soviet Government unfairly denying basic human rights and liberties to its citizens. It is also the story of Judith RatnerBialy and her husband. Leonid Bialy. two citizens who have been denied permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union for 10 years. They have been refused visas since 1977. because of consideration of state security. As an engineer. Leonid allegedly had access to classified information. but he was fired from that job in 1971 and has not had access to such information since that time. It is my understanding that after 10 years. those who were previously exposed to classified information are no longer considered to be security risks. Therefore. their visa denial for security reasons seems to run contrary to Soviet emigration policy. Judith. who was seriously disabled in a 1979 car accident. has had only menial work since 1973. Her mother currently lives in Israel. but she is 82 years old and fears that she may never see Judith again. Judiths sister. Marina. was allowed to emigrate in 1971. and now lives in the United States. half a world away. Thus. the denial of Judith and Leonids requests further violates Soviet emigration policy which calls for the speedy reunification of divided families. This summer. 38 Senators joined me in urging Soviet officials to expedite the emigration requests of Judith and Leonid. I fear that this request has fallen on deaf ears. because only a few weeks ago. Judith was once again denied permission to emigrate. This was truly a crushing blow to all of us who have been working on behalf of this family. Mr. President. this is but one case among the thousands of cases of Soviet citizens who are being denied their right to free emigration. I will continue to work to free Judith and Leonid and the thousands of others who have been denied permission to emigrate. The recent improvements in emigration figures are encouraging. but we cannot ease the pressure. I will keep up my efforts in this fight. and I urge my colleagues to do the same.